In addition to the macro-financial assistance offered to Moldova, the European Union has prepared a financing mechanism for projects in transport, energy and digitization, says MEP Ramona Strugariu. According to her, the money intended for these projects will be available starting this coming autumn.
“The Republic of Moldova, a candidate country for accession, is the first country outside the European Union to sign a connection agreement through which it can integrate through the European Interconnection Mechanism. This means that the Republic of Moldova can request funding from the EU for projects that are of common interest in the fields of transport, energy and the digitization. These are significant amounts that the European Union makes available. If things move well and the Republic of Moldova submits funding applications, it could benefit from this funding as early as autumn. We want the accession negotiations to be opened by the end of 2023 and we have every interest in providing financial support and technical assistance for these steps to be taken”, said MEP Ramona Strugariu during a talk show on Radio Moldova .
In the same context, Victoria Roșa, expert with the Association for Foreign Policy, says that the Moldovan authorities should explain much better how European money is spent and how European Union funding contributes to raising people’s living standards.
“We need to explain to people why we need this money, where this money will go and what the impact will be for the ordinary citizen. In the Republic of Moldova, even in the media, even the experts talk about very large amounts of money, but it is not quite possible to explain what is the result of the implementation of this money. Getting informed is very important for people, there is already a fatigue of huge sums without a clear explanation of how this money contributed to the improvement of the citizen’s life”, said Victoria Roșa.
On May 9, the European Parliament voted to supplement the macro-financial aid for the Republic of Moldova with 145 million euros to help the country cover part of its financing needs in 2023.
